Nursing leaders can deliver a new model of care
According to Donna E. Shalala, the majority of American residents are insured. This article argues that nurses can provide the solution to Americas health challenges. According to this article, there is confusion about what nurses are capable of doing and what they cannot do. Over the years, nurses have been very helpful to the healthcare system. With the help of nurses, the quality of health services, especially in rural areas, has been improved.
As is suggested in a report by the institute of medicine, the future for nursing as a profession looks bright. The report recommends that the outdated restrictions in nursing should be reviewed. This will enhance their ability to perform more functions and increase service delivery. The report also recommends that nursing leadership in hospitals should be enhanced. In most hospitals and healthcare centers, nurses are not represented in boards of directors panels.
This is one of the reasons causing nurses interests to be left out in the decision-making processes in the health industry. Nurses representation should not only be affected in hospitals boards, but also in all health sectors. In addition to the above recommendations, the report also suggests that nursing education should be supported and improved. Some nurses who have advanced degrees are not sufficient to serve the current population. Therefore, the demand for nursing is gradually outdoing its supply. This must be addressed to avoid a major catastrophe in the future. Nurses functions and roles in the health system are very limited.
The report recommends that nursing should be diversified to cover different areas to increase its range of services. Lastly, it is important to have effective data reporting and in place to avoid mishaps. Reporting systems will be very useful in monitoring and predicting the needs of the labor force, hence helping in improving the quality of service. Currently, there are some states that have already acted in response to this reports recommendations. They include New York City, Kentucky, and Minnesota.
There are cities that have tried to implement these recommendations but have failed. They include California, Florida, and Indiana. However, the efforts are expected to be resumed and there are high chances that they will succeed in removing these barriers. One of the major arguments for removing these obstructions is because nurses are able to offer high-quality care services at an affordable cost compared to the regular physicians who offer similar services at a very high cost. To improve the healthcare system in the United States of America, the best place to start the process is by dealing with the issues affecting nurses.
By removing the existing barriers in the health care system, the government can expand health services to reach out to almost 8 million new patients. This is a major accomplishment if it can be achieved. By defying these recommendations, the state will be hindering access to healthcare services. A sizable percentage of the population will be denied the chance to access medical services if the recommendations are not adhered to. Nurses should be allowed to utilize their acquired knowledge to the maximum if the quality of and access to health services are to be enhanced. The discrimination that nurses face as they perform their duties should be avoided at all costs. Nurses, just like other health practitioners, have the expertise to deal with most of the health issues.
Critical evaluation of the perspective presented
The article gives a very broad perspective on the nursing profession. I think the argument which allows nurses to offer health services without restrictions is a good strategy to deal with the health issues in the country. However, it is implausible that the services offered by nurses will remain affordable after they are allowed to be fully in charge. It is possible that services by nurses are only affordable for now. Who knows what will happen when they will be given the full authority to carry out other functions like treatment? I predict a situation whereby the nurses will also increase the cost of their services to match the cost of other physicians.
In addition, it is also impractical to assume that by allowing nurses to offer healthcare services the cost will automatically reduce. I support the recommendations fully, but I think the cost of health services may not be significantly altered to the advantage of the patients. The nursing training curriculum can be improved to increase nurses range of services. This can be beneficial to the countrys healthcare system. However, the cost of learning and the improved quality will be at a cost.
The perspective presented in this article suggests that nursing is the ultimate answer to the high cost of healthcare services. As Shalala has noted, the was meant to promote care and help the nurses to acquire skills in order to be in a position to educate the patients. This will ultimately improve the quality of care as well as improving its cost. The United States of America has taken the necessary steps according to Shalala in order to reduce the number of uninsured citizens in the country. However, Shalala asserts that the systematic problems and partisan politics have affected the role played by nurses in the healthcare system.
ACA been affected by internal politics hence the difficulties in licensing. Another challenge facing the nursing fraternity and that is hindering their licensing is the problem of offering universal access to care. Evidently, the supply of health care services is not matching the demand currently. This is a major challenge which can only be addressed by licensing of nurses and the enhanced powers given to them to function easily.
Shalalas proposal
Nurses can help in improving the healthcare system if they were allowed to assess, diagnose, treat, educate, and coordinate health services for patients. However, allowing nurses to perform these functions can have different implications to different interested groups. To the doctors, I believe the move will be contested bitterly. Doctors will not be pleased to see their juniors performing functions that are preserved for them, considering their level of training.
On the other hand, I think patients will have different angles of looking at it. A great number of patients might benefit greatly from this plan with regard to access to services and cost reduction. Allowing nurses to treat patients will reduce the waiting time and increase the number of patients being treated per day. Doctors are very few in most hospitals therefore they can only serve a handful of patients per day. If nurses are allowed to diagnose and treat patients, the number of deaths in health care facilities is likely to reduce. This will enhance the provision of health services and also reduce the cost.
Personally, I believe that a nurse-friendly care service delivery system can than the current system. In the current system, a patient can be kept at the waiting area for hours, while the doctor is attending to a different patient. Health issues are sometimes spontaneous and quick action is required. The waiting time can sometimes result to fatalities. If nurses are allowed to treat and diagnose, such risks would be significantly reduced. In addition to this, it is also important to note that accessing the services of a physician is sometimes very costly and too expensive for most patients. However, this can be improved, since nurses can offer the same services at a cheaper price.
The difference between the cost of health services offered by doctors and nurses is not based on the quality, rather on the principle of demand and supply. Doctors and specialized physicians are very few in every health facility. Nurses make up the greater percentage of the total number of employed health practitioners. The increase in the supply of health services due to the increased number of personnel will cause a reduction in the general cost of health services.
